As a result of general manager Ted Thompson's long-standing draft-and-develop philosophy, the Green Bay Packers enter the off-season in a different fraternity from the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints.

The Packers' roommates are teams like the Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins.

Those are not exactly the teams you want to be grouped with during the regular season, but in the off-season being housemates with such a conspicuous bunch of also-rans is what you might consider a feather in your cap.

It is especially so if you have one of the best quarterbacks in the game signed to a long-term deal, a ton of offensive talent and three consecutive division titles in the bank because it means you didn't earn the salary cap room by being one of the worst teams in the NFL.

What the Packers have in common with those bottom dwellers is that they are among the leaders in salary cap space heading into the 2014 season.

Been through this before. It don't matter what we say or think. Ted is too afraid to get quality FAs. He doesn't have the skill or the confidence to go that route.

So while they have lots of cap space, maybe their passivity in free agency is a reason the Packers have not risen to the top of the NFC since winning Super Bowl XLV — something they did with the help of two key free agents, Charles Woodson and Pickett.

The Packers have been able to stay in the hunt every year, but they have not taken the chances the others have to get to the very top.

Boy, those two excerpts tell the entire story. Great, we're in decent cap shape. Last I heard, no one gives out Lombardi Trophies for that…

I'm confident that Ted can do it, find the right Free Agent player(s) to help get us back on top. It is just a question of if and when. What we have seen, and I believe he has seen, is strict adherence to D&D inhibits the building of a true championship contending team. I am hoping he sees this anyhow, and that he acts on it to make our team better by making some philosophical changes to his approach in building out the 2014 team.

Been through this before. It don't matter what we say or think. Ted is too afraid to get quality FAs. He doesn't have the skill or the confidence to go that route.

This is a BS comment. First, he isn't Ted. Secondly Ted Thompson is not afraid to get quality free agents. Thompson merely refuses to OVERSPEND for ANY free agent. There is a massively vast difference there. I think Thompson goes on vacation the first week of free agency just to avoid temptation. That is speculative of course.

The player has to fit the Packers scheme.The player has to be willing to play for the Packers.

This isn't just a Ted Thompson thing. There are many moving pieces and to blindly say Thompson, err Teddy is afraid to get quality free agents is just obtuse.

One of the things many fans love about the Packers is the blue collar aspect. The small town aspect. The historical aspect. Even the cold aspect. Well, most of those things work AGAINST the Packers in landing free agents. Not to mention the Packers do not have a deep pocketed owner who can afford to spend $100 million on someone like Albert Haynesworth and have it be a complete bust. If the Packers did this, it would set them back nearly five years if not more!

Again, what free agents were available that the Packers should have signed for their contract? No one ever has a legit answer to this, yet we all run around saying "sign free agents".

Shit on that! Learn to coach up the damn players drafted. Do your damn 'draft and develop' gooder, especially the friggin develop part! How long we gonna wait for many of these guys to finally develop?

I always put my FA wish lists out there… and, they get dashed through a very long, arduous process of waiting, and waiting, and waiting, until they are all signed by other teams. Happens every year since 2007.

JSOnline wrote:As a result of general manager Ted Thompson's long-standing draft-and-develop philosophy, the Green Bay Packers enter the off-season in a different fraternity from the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints.

The Packers' roommates are teams like the Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins.

Those are not exactly the teams you want to be grouped with during the regular season, but in the off-season being housemates with such a conspicuous bunch of also-rans is what you might consider a feather in your cap.

It is especially so if you have one of the best quarterbacks in the game signed to a long-term deal, a ton of offensive talent and three consecutive division titles in the bank because it means you didn't earn the salary cap room by being one of the worst teams in the NFL.

What the Packers have in common with those bottom dwellers is that they are among the leaders in salary cap space heading into the 2014 season.

WHY are we not as bad as those "roommates"? One reason: Aaron Rodgers. When he was out, we were exposed for being just that bad.

Nobody is saying we should have signed Haynesworth or Steven Jackson, etc. - I sure as hell wasn't saying it at the time. Thompson is correct not to go hog wild in free agency, but he is wrong to be as hyper-cautious as he has been. The Packers are NEAR the top of the NFL - mainly because of Aaron Rodgers. However, they could be a LOT better team with just a few strategic free agent signings - Safety this year being prime among those - Jarius Byrd or T.J. Ward. Another alternative would be to sign Alterraun Verner and convert Hayward or Tramon Williams to Safety. I'm not even sure we should go after a LB - particularly not Orakpo, who would be the most expensive and has had injury problems. The Steeler guy is younger and probably a lot cheaper, and maybe better. For that matter, we probably could handle LB through the draft.

It doesn't take much; Thompson just needs to get off his ass and make it happen.

Expressing the Good Normal Views of Good Normal Americans. If Anything I Say Smacks of Extremism, Please Tell Me EXACTLY What.

Falcons now have a broken down RB for $12M over 3 years. Packers have Eddie at $4M for 4 years. Jackson 734 yards and 7 TD's, Lacy 1435 yards and 11 TD's.

Winner?

Was it luck that brought Lacy to us at pick #61? I kind of think so. That was a fantastic pick and a great turn for our team. We needed a legit power RB, a feature RB. But, Lacy literally fell into our laps, much like Rodgers did in 2005.

I'm not saying we should be blowing huge sums of money on anybody. I'm merely stating that there is a balance that should exist on any team in adding both young talent via the draft, and experienced, effective veteran talent via FA and trades. Personally, I think we've thrown ourselves off balance by sticking to D&D as our sole means of talent acquisition. And, it clearly shows.

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